This is a review of one presentation from the Sustainable Sanitation Conference, co-hosted by SOIL and UNICEF in June 2012. For an introduction and general overview of the conference, or to find information about other presentations, click here.

Sustainable Sanitation in Schools
Lucho Jean, an independent consultant, gave an overview of his experiences implementing ecological sanitation in a school in the Delmas neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince.
The school for 3 – 6 year olds was set up by the NGO AMURT following the earthquake in 2010. The school itself has an open design, made for pupils and staff to exist in harmony with their surroundings. Gardens and ecology are integral components of the school’s philosophy. GiveLove, a non-profit organization, was asked to implement an ecological sanitation system for both the children and their teachers.

The result is a set of dry sanitation toilets, 4 doors in total, for 300+ pupils and teachers, and a set of 4 urinals. Hand washing facilities are also located next to the toilet blocks. All of the school roofs were fitted with rainwater harvesting gutters, with water being stored in plastic water tanks. The dry toilets work on the “human manure principal” where urine and excreta are collected in 55 litre drums, with a desiccating material such as cane sugar bagasse used to cover fresh deposits. When the drums are full, they are emptied into the school composting site by the school gardener.
The strength of the approach lies in ease of use, and the toilet management system. The toilets are managed and cleaned by a paid attendant, while the school gardener empties and cleans the drums. The local community has also been surprised by the lack of smell from the toilets.